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We are the soul of a newspaper. Not just any newspaper. We are the soul of the Toronto Sun from back in the day when it was the tabloid everyone in Toronto talked about. We are the people who helped make it happen. Sadly, most of us are long gone from the Sun. Many are now deceased. But when we were all a part of the Sun, as it was, it was a vibrant, kick ass paper that captured the impossible dream.

Ottawa Sun ME Don Ermen whacked today by Glenn Garnett, editorial honcho from Toronto. He joins many others, including former publisher Rick Gibbons, former EIC Mike Therien, former ME Mitch Axelrad, all axed in the last year or two. It pretty much leaves the cleaning staff to run the place, perhaps a precursor to selling or shutting down.

If it is a sale, then at least it would show there is a plan. But the window between layoffs has narrowed from 2-4 years to every 6 months. After the cuts of 2008, it was quiet until the end of 2011. But then the slashing restarted and never stopped. Fall of 2012. Summer of 2013. Winter of 2013. Spring of 2014. And now fall of 2014. It would be laughable how inept and floundering the company is if it didn't impact so many people. The Sun Media yes-men will blame the industry, but really, have you seen this at any other media organization? It just shows how little separatist-owned Quebecor cares about their English papers... except to choke every last penny out of them.

If I recall correctly, there were almost always layoffs every quarter's end. They may have been small in number and non-union staff, so little was heard, but people always disappeared at the end of almost every quarter.

The layoffs have intensified over the past 3 years. More "restructurings" that end up everything, only to be undone because of the next "restructuring." While layoffs have always been Quebecor's only management tool, the chaos and carnage are approaching 2006-2007 levels. The next 3 months will be brutal. And don't discount the fire sale option.

I was cut a year ago and worked for sun media for many years. All I can say is that it was the BEST thing that ever happened to me - getting cut. Yesterday I had coffee with an old friend and he asked me what happened to me, said I looked many years younger and thinner. I said LEAVING SUN MEDIA happened to me. That place stressed me out, aged me and made me gain weight. They dump more and more work on you, if you bring ANY issues at all to their attention their enormous egos can't handle it and they slap you down. You live in constant fear of being cut, as does all the other staff, so it becomes a dog eat dog mentality where team work is thrown out the door, which hurts the bottom line of the paper but the higher ups in their ivory towers in Toronto are too blind or naive to get that. I loved the paper that I worked for. Gave it my heart and soul and I worked 70 plus hours a week trying to put out a good product the community was used to but with less staff. So those of you remaining, take heart, there is life after stun media - and a better one :) Worst corporation I ever worked for.

I noticed that the staff at my Metroland paper has disappeared, the masthead is gone and the paper, which was never really more than a flyer wrap but which still had a staff, is now filled with filler copy written by the staff of the Sun Media daily here. That happened anywhere else?

The restructuring rumours have a different tone now. We shall see I guess. In the world of corporate takeovers, companies who are buying DO NOT want to assume severances and packages and that is why they demand as part of any sale that pre-sale restructuring be done by the existing company and that the financial burden is not acquired by the new owner. These pending sales are usually easy to spot in advance by way of whom is being chopped

The plan is bankruptcy, or rather 'bankruptcy protection'. It is the same scam CanWest pulled when they sold to Post Media. It saves potential buyers from having to pay any legacy costs to employees current or former.

It also wipes out any ongoing lawsuits, which is why Q-cor is not concerned about the myriad legal actions piling up against them.

It is also why the company recently split into yet more incarnations of itself. One for the assets they want to keep, one for the English language side.

The filing will take place immediately after the next federal election (Harperoid Conservatives will keep funneling money to the chain to keep the propaganda machine flowing, but after the election, win or lose, they don't need it anymore).

Of course, there isn't really anything left to sell. A bunch of papers with no staff or presses and obsolete equipment is basically worthless; so it will be mostly liquidation by auction.

I think what he means by "scam" is "screw the employees." Yes, it's legal and in our corporate world, more than acceptable to treat the minions as disposable, but that doesn't make it any less reprehensible. The CanWest/Post Media scenario was different from Quebecor's mismanagement, however. With CanWest, over-extension and a bad economy drove it into the ground and the investors rallied to create their own entity, Post Media, in the hopes of getting their money back someday. As I recall, TorStar was a suitor, but was not willing to pay enough so the investors stepped in in the hopes of getting their cashola back. And even though all of this happened to CanWest/PostMedia, they have still had far fewer layoffs than Sun Media/Quebecor. The staffing at Post Media dwarfs Sun Media. Why? Because Quebecor doesn't view Sun Media as a valuable asset (and one thinks the fact it's a separatist company must have something to do with this) and they NEVER cared about growing or nurturing it. They want to bleed it dry. And of course, PKP still has his delusions of grandeur which have prevented a sale thus far. It will be a hard, jagged pill for Shakes-a-Fist to swallow -- his utter failure as a Canadian media titan. Speaking of, let's not forget the TENS OF MILLIONS poured into and lost thanks to Sun News Network, a huge misread of Canadian viewing appetites. Can you imagine the discussions that took place after Mulroney told the Liberals the company would apologize for Ezra Levant? Like, not only is this gong show costing us millions, damaged our brand beyond repair, but it's harming our relationship with the next Prime Minister and the next governing party, which Quebecor will need to achieve their greater dreams of being a national wireless carrier and NHL hub? Anyway, what does all that mean regardless? Get your CVs ready. It's October.

Sorry, but the idea that the Conservatives are funnelling money to Sun media is plain stupidity and I'd like to see the paper trail on that one. The CBC would be all over that like catnip.

Nobody...especially Conservatives want to be identified with this train wreck which is run by a known Quebec separatist.

Honestly, true conservatism has nothing in common with the crud SunMedia churns out. It's an offensive to everyone no matter what the political affiliation. If anything it merely exists to give Conservatives a bad name...hardly something they'd want to support!

Yes, doubtful the Conservatives are blatantly funneling money to Sun Media. That said, let's not forget that Stephen Harper's former communications director is the guy in charge of Sun News... or that the seeds of the network date back to a well-documented dinner between said communications director, Harper and Rupert Murdoch's henchman, Roger Ailes, several years ago. To say the Conservatives have no role or vested interest in SNN is incorrect. Remember, too, Ezra Levant's deep roots as a Reformer (he was one of the "snack pack" alongside Jason Kenney back in the 1990s).

If the Conservatives want to distance themselves from Sun News it's only because of its non-existent ratings and because its owner is a newly-minted separatist. They are ruled, first and foremost, by self-interest.

Likewise, if Quebecor wants to distance itself from the Conservatives, it's because Mulroney a) wants to have a good relationship with the next federal government and b) doesn't like Harper and his Reformers, who initiated the destruction of Mulroney's Progressive Conservatives. Quebecor is ruled only by greed and self-interest.

But all of this is beside the point -- namely, when are the layoffs going to start this year?

As we have all been talking about staffing levels and their happiness or lack thereof...did anyone see the 60 minutes program about Alibaba? For those not in the know the largest IPO ever. Their CEO listed as importance in this order...Customer first, STAFF second and third shareholders. Yes shareholders THIRD staff second, not at the end of the pile as Stun Media sets out. If only they knew in Toronto how a successful is run.

By now everyone has heard the news...the Sun has been sold to Postmedia. This deal does not include Sun News TV which is a sure sign it is about to die a quick and well deserved death.

Look forward to seeing how this pans out as Postmedia is now in control of practically every major English newspaper. In many cities such as Edmonton, they will own both the Journal the Sun which means in time someone is going down.

I got let go last year after surviving six years' worth of layoffs and so forth. While the Postmedia acquisition doesn't mean things will be all and good in the former Sun Media papers it has left me feeling a little sick to my stomach. If I had just managed to last through one more round of layoffs...

Post Media putting screws to circulation contractors in advance of merger, cutting wages and increasing workload. Sun financial staff looking into unauthorized "free" advertising being placed by publishers for their other business interests. Should be an exciting few weeks.

What's a publisher? They turfed all of those folks a long time ago and made Sales Managers of the remaining folks, then added more papers to them to oversee. Yet another good call! Does it seem odd that you can count the successes on one hand, the screw ups and mis-aligned direction though you need a second set of hands and kick off your socks and shoes to count those miss steps? Ah pillars, what a great direction that was, no one knows what the other departments are doing, no communication, and you spend more time jumping through hoops trying to get the littlest thing done.

The Toronto Sun Family: 1971 - 2018

Current and former Sun Media employees, this blog is for you. We'd like to hear your feelings about the Sun, pro or con, your experiences and if no longer with Sun Media, what you are doing today. There is no "I" in Toronto Sun Family. Just "we."